Commenting on the Prime Minister’s meeting with President Putin of Russia and his forthcoming visit to Israel, a pro-government analyst asserts that the Hungarian Prime Minister has become an important player in international affairs. READ MORE

Commenting on the Russian President’s short visit to Hungary, a left-wing columnist fears that the government wants to make Hungary part of the illiberal East. A conservative and a centrist pundit dismiss such fears, but also caution against too strong ties with Russia. READ MORE

Reacting to a statement by former Socialist Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány, that his 72 hour ultimatum has expired, and he now considers PM Orbán as having been blackmailed by Russia, his claim is dismissed by two of Mr Orbán’s conservative critics. READ MORE

Commentators conclude that the Hungary-Russia summit produced no surprises, but served to re-emphasize earlier standpoints. They disagree however on what role Hungary should play in relations between the West and Russia. READ MORE

While left-wing parties cautiously avoid commenting over the past few days on the upcoming one day visit of the Russian President, left-liberal commentators express disagreement with the government’s friendly attitude towards the Russian leader. READ MORE

Commenting on PM Orbán’s meeting with Russian President Putin, left-wing analysts suspect that Putin wants to use Hungarian support to lift EU sanctions. Pro-government columnists, on the other hand, think that PM Orbán pursued pragmatic Hungarian interests in Moscow. READ MORE

Commentators both on Left and Right think that US-Russian cooperation would be essential to the resolution of the Syrian crisis and that without restoring order, the flow of migrants to Europe will not stop. READ MORE

Right-wing columnists commenting on Italian PM Renzi’s talks in Moscow point out that despite economic sanctions and diplomatic disputes, pragmatic Western statesmen are willing to meet President Putin if national interest demands. Thus, they argue, it is only normal that PM Orbán is also trying to maintain good ties with Moscow. READ MORE

The leading left-wing daily contends that Russian opposition politician Boris Nemtsov was murdered because of his critical views of the Kremlin, and blasts PM Orbán for considering Putin’s illiberal democracy a role model. Conservative columnists suspect that it was not in Putin’s interest to have Nemtsov assassinated, since his death will be used by the anti-Putin camp. READ MORE